Sky Bridge

Tower of Covenant, 5th Floor. The Silver-White Zone.

4th Circle mage Kasha sat in her office, gazing out the window.

The Silver-White Zone was a land of perpetual daylight where the sun neither rose nor set. Endless white sky and ground, with colorless buildings standing between them as if melting into the landscape.

Though called the Tower of Covenant, it wasn’t a real tower. No ceiling, no walls. No stairs going up or down.

It was simply a world divided into a hundred concentric circles. The innermost was the 100th floor, and the outermost was the 1st floor.

However, according to this model, the circles should become progressively smaller toward the center… but in reality, that wasn’t the case. For instance, if the inner circle’s circumference was 6π, its area should be 9π. But actual measurements showed 100π or 1,000π instead. The outermost 1st floor didn’t extend excessively, and even at the 90th floor near the center, the space remained expansive rather than compact.

The essence of spatial magic that breaks the rules.

The Academy had long promised a substantial reward to anyone who could explain this principle, but no one had claimed the prize yet.

Kasha’s window faced the center of the world… in other words, toward the upper floors of the Tower of Covenant.

Because powerful energy reactions from the Tower’s center often caused eye-searing brightness… most people positioned their windows away from the center.

But Kasha deliberately set her window facing the Tower’s center.

Having arrived at work early today as well, she sipped deep blue sea-colored coffee that cleared her mind while repeatedly watching the footage contained in a message spell that had flown in like a bird.

In extreme concentration, she began muttering a self-dialogue.

“<Sa… il>. (Saíl (射日). Jun-woo understands the sound and meaning of the primordial incantation exactly, while others cannot, which means it’s definitely a primordial incantation. And an extremely powerful one at that.”

“But the real issue is the <Trans… portation?> incantation, isn’t it?”

“The equipment summoned is undoubtedly equipment stored in the relic. How does he know the incantation to summon it? <Trans… portation?>… an odd-sounding word with no discernible meaning… just like a primordial incantation.”

“There’s something even stranger. According to calculations, Sena School Nomad entered the Guardian’s Graveyard just 15 days before this footage. Yet all three of them handle the equipment with unbelievable proficiency. And they all have impossibly excellent physical abilities. How is this possible?”

“…It is possible, I suppose. If… they obtained administrator privileges for the relic!”

“But how could a mere 2nd Circle mage do that?”

Tap. Taptap, tap.

Kasha’s fingers busily tapped the transparent desk. Made from the life tree, the desk was as transparent as glass and produced a pleasant resonance when tapped.

After drumming her fingers like abacus beads, Kasha finally stopped.

She turned off the footage and raised her head. Her calculations were complete.

“Adjutant.”

As she called, the office door immediately opened and her adjutant entered. 3rd Circle mage Gato. He was her most capable assistant and close-quarters guard.

“Are the deployment preparations complete?”

“Yes. All seven mages from the Iron Blood Research Institute are on combat standby.”

“The last sighting was at Shadowed Mountain Crossroad in the 7th Continent. Three days ago. Correct?”

“Yes. That’s correct.”

“Smart. Of all places, they’re heading to Lanciel City… We must hurry! We’ll intercept them before they enter the city.”

“Understood!”

As she issued these orders, Kasha’s eyes blazed with desire.

‘Even if… it means annihilating an entire city, capturing that boy would be worth it.’

Kasha, who had luckily excavated a relic in her 20s and achieved great success. Even her current achievement as a 4th Circle mage was possible thanks to those results. At fifty-five, her growth had completely stalled in both magic and influence long ago… but finally, an opportunity to end that stagnation had arrived.

‘I too… must ascend to the upper floors now. I can’t stay in this countryside forever.’

Thinking of the upper floors of the Tower of Covenant.

Recalling the splendid streets and paradise-like pleasures she had tasted a few times in her youth, Kasha licked her parched lips.

It tasted sweet already.

+ – + – +

“What’s at the top of the Tower of Covenant?”

“Nobody knows that. The top of the Tower of Covenant is considered the 100th floor… we’ve now advanced to the 90th floor. Oh, no. I heard the 90th floor was recently taken over. So humanity has only progressed to the 89th floor.”

“If it was taken over… does that mean there are calamities in the Tower of Covenant too?”

“Perceptive. Yes, that’s right. The ‘true’ calamities exist inside there.”

During the week-long journey to the Sky Bridge, I had many conversations with Fel Jack.

“But you said earlier… that when the aggro level rises, people escape to the Tower of Covenant? If there are calamities in the Tower anyway, why…”

“The mana density in the Tower of Covenant is much higher than outside. Any ordinary aggro level becomes invisible, masked by the ambient mana. At our level, when aggro accumulates, escaping to the Tower of Covenant is definitely the right choice.”

“Hmm, I see. But if the mana density is high… magical growth must be faster, right?”

“Half right and half wrong. The Tower’s mana is as heavy as it is dense. Once it starts moving, you gain tremendous magical power, but initially, it barely responds to ordinary challenges. That’s why the 3rd Circle mage initiation ritual is performed in the Tower of Covenant. Achieving 3rd Circle outside the Tower would attract countless calamities, but doing it inside the Tower means the mana shows little interest and doesn’t attract the attention of calamities.”

My conversations with Fel mostly centered around the Tower of Covenant.

Through these discussions, I could vaguely measure the difficult path ahead of me.

“Some seek ways to heal the torn world at the top of the Tower of Covenant. Others seek power to grasp all authority, and some wish to discover the limits of magic. But no one really knows what they’ll find at the end. Whatever it is, only one thing is certain—it will be extraordinary.”

“How do you know it will be extraordinary?”

“Circumstances suggest it. With each floor you climb, even the level of calamities changes. Things considered supreme treasures on lower floors become as useless as stones on higher floors. They say it’s filled with materials never seen before and mystical phenomena straight out of mythology.”

“Wow… I’d like to become strong enough to reach the top someday.”

Whenever I expressed such ambitions, the usually confident Fel would wear a somewhat bitter expression.

“Getting stronger is good. But the Tower of Covenant isn’t something you can climb by being strong alone. Or rather… if you become that strong by yourself, you’ll probably die alone first.”

“Why? If you’re strong, you don’t die.”

“It’s about aggro. A mage’s fate is truly strange… Once you reach 5th Circle and beyond… your attention from calamities grows far larger than your actual power. I’ve heard that when a mage of that level uses magic once, unbearable calamities swarm from everywhere. From 5th Circle onward, each use of magic becomes extremely cautious.”

“That’s absurd… Even at 5th Circle, you have to live like that, trembling with fear?”

“That’s the world we live in. The stronger a mage becomes… the stronger the calamities that hunt them. That’s why you can’t do it alone. You need a team and organization to manage the risk. Otherwise, you’ll just be chased by increasingly powerful calamities until you die miserably.”

During these somewhat gloomy conversations, we would always look up at the stars in the sky.

“Calamities are too powerful, and our world is fragmented. Ascending the Tower of Covenant… isn’t about some hero casually climbing stairs. Rather… it might be about stitching together the torn world… uniting the fragmented power of humanity.”

Listening to Fel’s stories… I could sense his serious concerns about the world, which sometimes made me feel a lump in my throat even when his words seemed grandiose.

After spending several nights stargazing and talking like this, we finally arrived at our destination, the Sky Bridge.

It truly was the edge of the continent.

Standing at the edge of the highland and peering down, we could see an endless cliff dropping so far that the horizon was visible. It was the cross-section of the 7th Continent. So massive that it appeared like a rock plain stretching out. It seemed as if you could walk right onto the cliff edge.

The floating island appeared to be about twice the size of the Saharan Plains.

As if this massive landmass had been torn from the highland, it was separated by a cliff about 300 meters wide. Below that cliff was another endless drop with only sky beneath.

Normally, the sky is something above our heads… but somehow, when looking down into the deep gap between the floating island and the highland, there was sky below, and even stars twinkling in that sky.

Eventually, we clearly confirmed with our own eyes that our continent, too, floats in the void, like countless stars revolving around the Tower of Covenant.

“That’s insane… the land we’re standing on is actually moving?”

I wasn’t particularly surprised… but Yuria and Monggu seemed quite shocked. Their complexions didn’t look good, as if they felt queasy.

So I kindly explained:

“What’s so surprising about something like this? The land where Earth humans lived was supposedly like pale blue dust, a tiny speck that couldn’t even be seen from a distance. Compared to that, we’re better off, aren’t we?”

Of course, neither nor Monggu seemed comforted by this at all.

Chatting and bantering like this, expressing amazement and releasing tension, we made our final camp at a spot overlooking the Sky Bridge.

The floating island and the 7th Continent. The white Sky Bridge connected these two completely separated lands, barely spanning the gap like a rainbow.

Sitting with that mysterious bridge as my backdrop, I worked on my personal magic book.

“What are you writing so intensely?”

Fel Jack came over and plopped down beside me.

I slightly closed my book and answered.

“I’m writing a magic book. I’ve developed my own insights about magic.”

Hearing my answer, Fel nodded with a big smile.

“Haha, that’s a good attitude. Creating your own theories is important. Later, when you enter the Tower, compare them with the advanced theories there. As you find your mistakes and humbly accept them, you’ll find your skills improving dramatically.”

Fel offered that advice, but… would I really find mistakes there?

Rather, I hoped I would.

Knowing you’re wrong. That’s not a blow to your pride, but an opportunity to move forward more easily.

But… neither Fel here, nor anyone in the Tower of Covenant, would likely understand the world as I see it.

“Tomorrow is the decisive day… but you’re probably still unclear about how lightning hunting works? Don’t worry too much. It can’t be helped. Even the most talented mage, when lightning hunting for the first time, simply can’t grasp it from verbal explanations. Relax. Tomorrow, just follow your training. Gradually, you’ll get the feel for it.”

Now I realized Fel had visited to help ease our tension.

I appreciated the gesture, but… he was barking up the wrong tree again.

I already understood how lightning hunting worked because I had seen and experienced it.

Fel said the hunting process was similar to a ritual performance… but what I confirmed in my [Simulation] was closer to a ‘puppet show’ than a ritual.

A puppet show for the magical powers.

And over the past week, I had prepared the ultimate performance.

Tomorrow, Fel would be left speechless.

With such confidence in my situation, my recent concerns weren’t about battling the Lightning Calamity.

Rather… my mind was completely occupied with thoughts about this ridiculous Gift called [Simulation] itself.